Eighteen Special Years Between 1946 and 1964

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There weren’t many baby boomers who didn’t watch Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Originally shown locally on Philadelphia’s WFIL-TV starting in late March 1950 as “Bandstand,” it premiered nationally today, August 5, 1957 … SIXTY-ONE years ago. Leading edge baby boomers were already or about to become eleven years old.

CBS Sunday Morning just ran an excellent period piece about the show and its long-time host, Dick Clark. Click here, and enjoy the memories.

As I look around our home, I’m starting to realize that our “treasures,” while still quite functional, aren’t things our adult children are likely going to keep. Modern day antiques, so to speak.

So, what do we do with this “stuff?”

As a counterpoint, I’ve included an article from theFamilyCurator.com and I urge you to check out the site after reading the following:

21st Century Heirs Want to Inherit.

(I can verify that it’s true, at least in our family’s case.)

1. Photos and Photo Albums

Heirs of all ages recognize themselves in old family photos. If you don’t have time to scan prints and film before gifting, enlist help. Gift the slide collection with a useful slide sorter and viewer, or a film-capable flatbed scanner for digitizing. I found an old Logan slide sorter in my aunt’s garage that helped me sort and select 35mm slides for digitizing.

2. Yearbooks, Wedding Books, Scrapbooks

Most of us have memories of school days and special life events. As more publications go digital, fewer printed records are being published and our parents’ and grandparents’ old school yearbooks and wedding albums are becoming more rare. Millenials are discovering old yearbooks as special occasion coffee table books, brought out to savor and enjoy.

If you are ready to pass on a family album, give it a new home in a slipcase cover or acid-free archival box. Digitize the pages and create a reproduction book for each family member to enjoy using the step-by-step instructions in my book How to Archive Family Photos.

3. Journals, Diaries, and Letters

Handwritten pages bring our ancestors to life. Does your family include a writer, academic, or historian who might treasure the words of another family writer? Consider careers as well as hobbies when looking for a future heir.

No handwritten volumes? What about decorative marriage and baptismal certificates, land deeds, property maps. These documents can be attractively displayed when framed with archival materials and UV-filtering glass. Or, scan, reprint and frame a high-quality reproduction and present the original in an archival storage envelope.

4. Military or Career Memorabilia

Medals, service ribbons, uniforms and other pieces that speak to our ancestor’s military service are often welcome heirlooms.

Burial flags recognizing a veteran’s service can be folded into the traditional triangle and displayed in a glass front flag case. If you purchase a case with regular glass, display the flag in away from direct light or replace the glass with UV filtering glass or plexiglass.

Medals are often preserved in the original box, perfect for gift presentation.

5. Unique and Vintage Treasures

Comments from several readers show that sometimes inheriting one item is even better than owning the entire collection. One woman repurposed family silver as monogramed bracelets, another kept a single cup and saucer from a larger set of wedding china.

Many family heirlooms have become antiques or collectibles in their own right, from baseball cards and bobble-heads to vintage pocket watches. If you can afford it, pay to have the debut Super Bowl program and game ticket professionally framed with archival materials before you give it to your grandson. Present your grandfather’s Lincoln Penny book with a guidebook to coin collecting and an inexpensive magnifying loupe. Old hobby equipment might seem outdated, but vintage sewing machines, fishing tackle, and woodworking tools have become much-sought treasures to modern hobbyists.

Fashion trends have mostly buried interest in dining sets and buffets, but a mid-century stereo cabinet or lava lamp is likely to have several interested young heirs. (It’s probably wise to ask before gifting anything large or semi-permanent.)

Match the Heirloom to the Heir

Taste may change as we get older, but some interests just grow in fervor. Think carefully about the hobbies, career, and interests of the recipient of any gift. No matter how much I love my aunt’s old pottery cookie jar, it’s probably not a great gift for my grandsons. Instead, young boys might like granddad’s stamp collection or their dad’s baseball cards.

Write an Heirloom History

Pick up a pen and paper to handwrite a note explaining everything you know about the gift you’re giving. Include the name and basic information about the original owner and other owners. Explain how the keepsake came to you and any special memories or stories you recall. Include the original receipt, photos, or letters mentioning the item.

From history.com

1826

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams die

On this day in 1826, former Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, who were once fellow Patriots and then adversaries, die on the same day within five hours of each other.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were the last surviving members of the original American revolutionaries who had stood up to the British empire and forged a new political system in the former colonies. However, while they both believed in democracy and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their opinions on how to achieve these ideals diverged over time.

Adams preceded Jefferson as president (1797-1800); it was during this time that their ideas about policy-making became as distinct as their personalities. The irascible and hot-tempered Adams was a firm believer in a strong centralized government, while the erudite and gentile Jefferson believed federal government should take a more hands-off approach and defer to individual states’ rights. As Adams’ vice president, Jefferson was so horrified by what he considered to be Adams’ abuse of the presidency–particularly his passage of the restrictive Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798–that he abandoned Adams and Washington for his estate at Monticello. There, he plotted how to bring his Republican faction back into power in the presidential election of 1800. After an exceptionally bitter campaign, in which both parties engaged in slanderous attacks on each other in print, Jefferson emerged victorious. It appeared the former friends would be eternal enemies.

After serving two presidential terms (1801-1809), Jefferson and Adams each expressed to third parties their respect the other and their desire to renew their friendship. Adams was the first to break the silence; he sent Jefferson a letter dated January 1, 1812, in which he wished Jefferson many happy new years to come. Jefferson responded with a note in which he fondly recalled when they were fellow laborers in the same cause. The former revolutionaries went on to resume their friendship over 14 years of correspondence during their golden years.

On July 4, 1826, at the age of 90, Adams lay on his deathbed while the country celebrated Independence Day. His last words were Thomas Jefferson still survives. He was mistaken: Jefferson had died five hours earlier at Monticello at the age of 82.

When baby boomers were growing up, Memorial Day was always celebrated on May 30th. In my town, the celebration started with a parade, that frequently included military personnel, both active duty and veterans. The parade wound up in the town’s Memorial Park where those who have died in military service were appropriately and solemnly honored. Afterwards, many of us gathered around a radio to listen to the broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 while others attended family picnics. There was always something to do at the local Veteran’s of Foreign War (VFW) post or the American Legion post. Hopefully, winter was gone and warm temperatures were on the horizon. We were kids.

Now, baby boomers are adults and many are senior citizens. Many of my friends and I share the perspective that Memorial Day is another of the many American holidays that have become highly commercialized. My goal is not to get opinionated or political in this blog, but I am going to give all of you something you can share with your children and grandchildren about how it was when we were their age. Please remember how it used to be.

This is the real meaning of the holiday (as posted on time.com, Tessa Berenson, May 23, 2015)

It’s easy to forget what Memorial Day actually means while you’re sitting by the pool and looking ahead at summer vacation—but the day signifies much more than just a three-day weekend.

Memorial Day is a solemn day of remembrance for everyone who has died serving in the American armed forces. The holiday, originally known as Decoration Day, started after the Civil War to honor the Union and Confederate dead.

It’s unclear exactly where the holiday originated—Charleston, S.C., Waterloo, N.Y., Columbus, Ga. and other towns all claim to be the birthplace of the holiday. The event in Charleston that may have precipitated the holiday offers poignant evidence of a country struggling to rebuild itself after a bloody war: 257 Union soldiers died in prison in Charleston during the Civil War and were buried in unmarked graves, and the town’s black residents organized a May Day ceremony in which they landscaped a burial ground to properly honor the soldiers.

In the years following the Civil War, Memorial Day celebrations were scattered and, perhaps unsurprisingly, took root differently in the North and South. It wasn’t until after World War II that the holiday gained a strong following and national identity, and it wasn’t officially named Memorial Day until 1967.

The final event that cemented the modern culture of Memorial Day in America was in 1968 when Congress passed the Uniform Holiday Act, designating Memorial Day as the last Monday in May rather than May 30, as it had previously been observed. This ensured a three-day weekend and gave the day its current status as the unofficial beginning of summer, mixing serious reflection with more lighthearted fun.

Please share this with your families and your Facebook friends. Better yet, sit down with your grandchildren and tell them the story in person. And remember, it’s not “Happy Memorial Day.” It’s “Honor Memorial Day.”

God Bless America!

The following image is from the grave of a college friend and fellow Midshipman who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for service as a United States Marine Corps Officer in Vietnam.

As I think back to the wonderful maxims she used to share, at least two of them are so inane, they are silly, but I cannot get them out of my mind today. Food that “sticks to your ribs,” and making sure I was wearing “clean underwear in case I was in an accident!”

Please share this and post similar maxims your mother shared with you and any that you mothers share with your children. And have a wonderful Mother’s Day.